Change the hand towel in the bathroom probably every three days, it doesn't take long to get covered in toothpaste, makeup, snot (!) etc.

Bath towels once a week (DH has his own, I share with DS)

Bedding once a fortnight.

Good point janmoomoo about the environmental impact - washing your towels every day and at 60 degrees????

Towels and bedding once a week at 30 degrees - if anything bedding should be done more often than towels because you spend hours rubbing your dirty skin cells against those sheets instead of a few minutes of rubbing clean skin with towels!!!

I wash all bed clothes once a week without fail, you sweating on night in them, so think tht quite important.
I had a discussion with a friend who never seems to wash anything! (bloke) he asked why i wash towels after each use as my body should be clean when I use them anyway, but like someone else said, loose skin, body hair etc. I use kitchen roll to dry hands for bacteria reasons so don't use hand towels. T-towels, I use 2 per day.

dd and ds are both allergic to dust mites so their bedding is supposed to be washed at 60 degrees at least once a week. I do our bed about twice a month.

Towels - about twice a week or when they start to whiff.

What a fascinating thread!!

I do my hand towels every week, my bath towels when i think of it... and my bed sheets about once a month depending on whether dp is around to do that inside out shaky thing to put a duvet cover on (see that thread last week).

Well I change bedlined weekly, bath towels get used twice and all other towels ie hand, dish etc get changed every day.

Well, we (well he) needs to lay a new floor in our bedroom before it can be cleaned (we have recently moved house) and we (well me) then need to order a new bed and a new mattress. Then I will start the new laundry regime. But I still think he should see the GP as he is 44 and hasn't seen anybody about his allergy for about thirty years! I think things may have moved on a tad .

ThingOne - the bedding does make a difference, but I also hoover/dust our bedroom a lot more than I ever used to. You have all my sympathies - little worse than listening to someone snoring at 4 in the morning. If it is a dust allergy, you have to keep on top of things but little things like clean bedding really do help.

I couldn't imagine using towels that werent clean.

Whats the point of having a bath if your gonna use a drty towel to dry on?

I think its true, I've definatly inherited my mothers cleaning habits - she washed towels after every use and boiled the bedstuff once a week

Mostly weekly, although towels tend to get chucked into the wash every day.

Oh Hassled I have sent my DH to a different bed until he goes to the doctor about his snoring/dust allergy. Once he has been I will contemplate letting him back in my (oops, our) bed and will attempt to wash the bedding more often.

weekly, yuck think of all the dead skin cells clinging to your sheets, not to mention the minging dust mites! they all go into the wash once a week!

weekly for beds, towels the same.

At least weekly. Face cloths and bath mats daily, hand towels every couple of days.

Towels - 2 or 3 times a week, i like fresh crispy towels and no fabric conditioner on them.

bed linen - every other week (we always shower before bed)

18 mo DS gets his sheet changed every other week, unless he has wiped snot / sick on it sooner.

And I haven't used an iron in 4 years.

Sheets and pillow cases weekly, duvet cover every fortnight. Towels weekly. All washed at 60 degrees.

How different we are do you think that we have inherited our mothers standards of bed/towel changing? My mum would kill me if she thought I hadn't changed the sheets for 6 weeks (why would this bother me, I don't know, but she would go on and on about it). I change them weekly now, I love the feeling of clean ironed sheets (another mum thing, I would not naturally do this, but she banged on about it and now I love it too).

Towels mine after every use, I just use a little hand towel, DH weekly. I don't wash my bath robe for aagges though, so rest of habit are prob pointless!

I wash towels and our bedsheets weekly. Kids bedsheets when I remember. The reason for the sheets - a) there is nothing quite like the sensation of getting into a bed with clean sheets and b) DH has allergic rhinitis, which causes him to snore like a hammer drill, and one of his allergies is dust mites. I can tell when it's time to get washing - the snoring wakes me up more often in a night. It's a choice between washing sheets or killing him in the night.

towels and bedlinen once a week.
spare bed changed in between each guest.
If I could and it were environmentally sound I would have a clean bed every night... I LOve it!

adult bed linen once a week

child bed linen maybe once a month

towels, flannels, bathmat maybe once a fortnight

Beds every other week and towels roughly the same. I change hand towels more often.

DH has a dust allergy so I really should wash our bed linen every week at 60 degrees. I can't be arsed.

Change face cloths every other day, hand towels 3/5 days bath towels weekly. Sheets with action weekly. Kids 3/4 weeks they're usually clean and pj'd for bed, aren't they?

I wash my towel twice weekly, leave dp to decide when he wants his washed (not so often)

sheets I aim for weekly but tbh unless hot weather is often more like fortnightly

ds's less often - he doesn't seem to sweat or do anything mucky while in bed!

Once a week without fail unless contaminated with puke or snot!

I really didn't realise that some people wash their towels after just one use

Ours are used until they seem a bit stinky or if the laundy fairy hasn't followed DH around to stop them being left in piles around our room

Towels weekly(isn) maybe a bit more if dd's got makeup all over the place

Bedding 2-3 weeks and dd's a bit less frequently.

DS seems to be able to go for ages without needing his sheets/duvet cover changing

What germs and bacteria?? The stuff that comes off your own body - and stuff that has just been washed no less (in the case of towels).

And I boil the bedstuff

Towels everytime they get used - ugggh to using them again, all that dead skin rubbed off on em, disgusting! Not to mention the body hair!

Bedstuff every monday without fail.

Think of the germs people, and all that bacteria - gross!

Think of the environmental impact of all that (unnecessary IMO) washing! I reckon if all mumsnetters reduced their bed and towel washing we could slow down global warming by a few years at least!

But Get it's so dull and I HATE stuffing duvets...how can you do it everyday!?

That said I'd love it if someone else did it for me as having clean sheets is lovely.

I am a sheet changing obsessive. 2-3 times a week in winter, every day when it gets hot. I like the feel of clean sheets.

DD and dstepson have theirs changed once or twice a week, they (and DP) think I'm nuts changing the sheets so often. Thing is, it;s not that much hard work really and it doesn't take that long. And I own a lot of sheets and duvets etc.

Towels I tend to wash once a week, more often if they have been left on the floor by family members to fester on the floor until the fairies pick them up <bitter emoticon> or if I cover them with mascara or lipstock or something.

Bed one week, towels the next. DC's beds sometimes get done more often depending on snot/wee etc. If it is really crap weather I'll sometimes leave our bed a while longer

Towels once a week, children under 13 every fortnight, everyone over 13 once a week.

MNersanonymous the towels thing is a weird one. Lots of people are grossed out by using them more than once because of all the dead skin cells on them.

I'm with you...who are these folk who make their towels whiff and why is this?

I wash bath mats every 1 to 2 days though...because they are harder to dry out properly between baths. And I change the sheets weekly in the summer for the cheap thrill that fresh white ironed cotton sheets gives me!

beds done once a week here,more often if weather is hot and sweaty.
towels every day as dd always gets make up or hair dye on them.

When they smell or look grubby for both. No set time as I am completely disorganised. Also, until recently I couldn't get into dd1s bed! Its a midsleeper, I was pregnant and then post c-section.

I thought I was just slovenly but am now consoling myself that by only washing the sheets ahem maybe every 6 weeks or so I am being eco-friendly....

Why on earth does anyone need to wash towels after every use?!? You only use them when you are clean after a shower or bath, I don't get it? Mine are hung up on a hook and we each have our own and they don't get wiffy for ages and ages if ever.

I don't . Ever.

















But the cleaner does towels every week and changes the beds every 2 weeks.

Once a week for everything, especially bed linen as I love clean sheets.

If it makes you feel any better, my mum cleans for an old chap who used to only change his sheets once a year.

Do you know, I really do not know. My bed is probably after every period, so monthly .... but it is MY bed, nobody else sleeps or does anything in there, and I wear pjs and pants (what a sex beast I am).

The kids' beds seem to look filthy at least weekly, and ds2 wets the bed at least once a week I'm sure.

towels and change beds once a week

Our bedding gets done once a week, kids bedding gets done every other week.

All towels get done twice a week.

I wash on 60 and line dry everything.

I was really when my SIL told me she washes all their towels after every use, to me that's just mad.

I can't believe that people wash their towels after every use - really - this is just amazing. Surely you are clean when you use them aren't you??? If not, then you are doing something wrong!!

I was our towels maybe once every couple of weeks, possibly longer and our bed gets changed every 2 - 4 weeks, depending on whether I think it needs to be done / remember.

Hubby would never wash his towel or change the bed if it was left up to him - wouldn't even cross his mind.

Towels when they smell
Our bed once a week
Kids beds once a month, or when needed

All done at 30deg, and dried on line, or over the banisters

towels everyday (after every use)
bed linen weekly
bathmat weekly

Am not really sure how often I wash my towels, tbh I do it when they need doing but probably after a few days.

Bedding is about once a week or more often if sex has been messy.

at least once a week for sheets duvet covers and pillow cases - towels- hand towels 2 days bath towels are washed after every use-tea towels at least 2 a day - my house is filled with hormonal sweaty teens and man there is only me and ds3 aged 7 who remain sweet smelling and clean pjs every other day willy drips are no joke

goodness - I looked at this a bit of dread as I was sure I would look really lazy next to everyone else, but I can;t believe that some people only wash their towels ONCE a week! I feel slightly giddy at the thought that it's ok not to wash them after every use!! no wonder I can never keep up with my washing!! I think I have been set free....

Clary, didnt have garden either back then so no washing line. Now have garden AND tumble dryer - hooray! But obviously just lazy - boo!!!

janmoomoo, dry yr sheets on the line in about an hour in this weather

Towels- after every few showers. Nowhere to hang them other than over doors so they get smelly quickly, I dont like the look of the house with towels on the doors, but then i dont like doing truckloads of washing either, so its a compromise.

Bedlinen- I am quite slovenly here and its probably on average...?? every 6 weeks!!! It was much more when BFing as they stank of milk, at least weekly then. Now they dont seem to recieve many stains....but I only think of doing it when they start to look a bit skanky.....

So am I the winner? Am I the slummiest mummy?

I change the bed properly every 2 weeks or so, but wash the pillowcases once a week as I think they need freshening up. (we do shower daily, tis just one of my funny little ways)

Towels - have own towels, change every 3-4 days. In between times hang them up to air/dry so they don't get whiffy/damp smells.

I change hand towels in the bathroom more, if you are home a lot then you and dcs might be washing hands say 6 times a day each!

i do my bed sheets once a week unless something is spilled on them and towels would ideally go in the wash basket after the second or third use unless dd1 has peed on them when getting dried however dp is not v good at putting the towels back they belong so about once a week i go on a towel hunt to find them all!

usually on top of the wardrobe!!! or on the floor or on wet on my side of the bed! and the cheeky begger has the cheek to moan that we never have clean towels!!!

I had a flatmate - and this is absolutely true - who never washed his bathtowel. When it got too disgustingly manky for him he would bin it and buy a new one. Every couple of months, roughly. He never washed the new one either, so for the first couple of weeks the bathroom would be lightly coated with a mess of towel-fluff, too.

Ewwwwww.

bed - every 3 weeks
towels - every 2 weeks. we each have our own towel.

Bed linen once a week to 10 days. DH often only home at the weekend, so it gets done on a Monday so it's nice and fresh for me Towels - every few days, or whenever I need to top up a load of whites (all my towels are white!).

Bed linen once a week, twice in the summer. Maybe we are very sweaty! Towels at least twice a week, find they get a bit whiffy otherwise.

Do you really all wash your bedsheets every week? I am more with dannipops - every three weeks or so (oh the shame!). Probably a hang-over from not having a tumble dryer and hating having the sheets draped all over the radiators for days on end. Must try harder!

But towels after 3-4 USES and sheets TWICE a week is just glutton for punishment surely?

Bedlinen - I aim for weekly but often fortnightly

Towels - I aim for flannels, hand towels and bathmats every 1 to 2 days, bath towels weekly, sometimes a bit less often in reality!

Beds every week and sometimes more in summer if I'm feeling energetic.Towels as I go erally there are always a couple in the machine.

Bedlinen once a week, towels once a week (we all have our own towel).

I wash towels every other day and beds changed once a week. Tends to be ours on a sunday and the childrens on a monday, (too much washing to do in one day otherwise)

That is minging on the bedlinen. Have you looked at yr pillows? And doesn't DCs' bedlinen get cacky?

I do towels once a week and bedlinen ditto. Have specific days for it and work colleagues think I am barking but I don't care, I have clean sheets and they don't.

at DH thinkign that once a month too often for sheets!

Lissy D don't you have yr own towel?

I don't iron towels btw and I am Queen of Ironing. (by which I mean to indicate that I do a lot)

Bed tends to get done once a month/when I remember. Towels tend to get washed after each use just because i can't seem to get DH to understand hanging them up/not using them to wipe his nose/willy on. I don't fancy drying myself and finding a crusty bit

Bedlinen every two weeks (unless lots of sweaty juicy sex has taken place, which is rare these days), towels every other day.

Everything gets ironed, btw (lots of people don't iron towels/bedding do they?)

or turn them over

lol crosspost

Can always chuck them out when they are a bit whiffy then buy new.

nobody tells me anything

You have to WASH them???

Omg I think I am a freak for washing towels after each use, we don't have anywhere to hang them . Looks at slovenly mess, erm eek.

x post Pinkbubble, dont feel so bad now. I also couldnt keep up with washing more frequently.

Oh dear. We use towels twice, no more and they get washed together once a week. Bedlinen is changed every two weeks. Is that being a slut, bearing in mind its DD on her own and me too so no willy drips .

every two weeks. - One week I wash towels, the next week I wash the bedding.
Otherwise we cant keep up with the washing!

I have to admit I have thought after sex at times, that it wasn't worth washing the sheets for! Another

Bedlinens once a week.

60 degrees in bio detergent and dried on the line.

Towels after 3-4 uses again at 60 degrees. I dry them outdoors until they're just about done then finish them in the dryer for about 15 mins. so they go soft.

when they don't feel nice any more ... I think this is a lower set of standards than others on this thread

bedlinen once a week - but DC's might be left longer

towels more often, maybe two/three times a week but we have outdoorsy and muddy existence, everything gets washed a lot, or the mud would take control of our lives. It's won the floor battle already.

When the LOs are still small, and as long as they tend to sleep at one end of the bed, you can get away with washing their sheets even less often by simlpy switching the mattresses around head-to-foot.

psml at willy drips

bed linen once a week

towels every other day, otherwise i think they get wiffy.

sometimes i would do the kids bedlinen twice a week only cus i love their wee beds to b so neat, and i am not a control freak! ha, the rest of the house is untidy as!

3 weeks for sheets (we also have no action!). Once a week for towels, except when my DH uses my towel, (grooosss) and I have to get new one.

Fresh towels seem to dry your body better, I mean, after a shower!

Week to ten days. But I love a fresh bed so that's probably why. And fresh towels seem to dry better. Never use a tumble dryer so garden / house seems to be constantly draped with laundry.. ....

wash towels and sheets about every week, sometimes 10 days.

Danni I am sure I've seen threads saying that bedding fortnightly is too often (eco threads) and if you use the towel (shagging on the rag thread [honestly there was one]) and wearing pajamas, then less frequently is ok.

once a fortnight for sheets inc kids

same for towels

Towels and bedlinen changed a minimum of once a week here but more often twice....

EVERY OTHER DAY??
Are you in fact a hotel chambermaid?
I'm impressed at your dedication.
Hmm, so what I secretly hoped would be a confirmation that my slovenly ways were sort of ok, has turned out to be a rout at the hands of the sisterhood. Is there really nobody slummier out there?

bed linen once a week (including dc's), towels every other day

once a week

This is even more helpful than I thought, thank you all. Please ladies, give me more.
Willy drips eh? I hadn't thought of that. Thank god DH wears pjs in bed. Not a smelly man, I must concede.
Do you change children's bed linen as much as adults'? When my girls are not snotty they don't seem to dirty their bed-linen at all. I only wash it out of guilt or fear of being an unfit mother, not out of any belief that it's actually dirty.

once a week with everything - i use fake tan - tinted moisturiser stuff and it shows on sheets and towels.....

Once a week for everything. DP has VERY smelly feet.

Used to be once a week every week ...

But towels now sort of fortnightly/when I remember

Bed linen - weekly for us (willy drips the main reason), er ... much less often for dc's as they dont sweat or drip much

towels need washing quite frequently or they get a bit whiffy i think.

sheets get all sweaty-plus if you have sex..then they need to be washed.

I'd probably wash bed linen a bit more often and towels a bit less often.

Have no idea what's normal though, that's what I'm on this page trying to find out!

(Oh, and avoiding doing the mounting housework)
x

once a week for everything like that.

Ditto with towel, more like 3 weeks with our bedding and longer with children if drool and snot free. Oh and we wear pjs in bed.

I need your advice, fellow mothers. Like many of you, I find myself strangely responsible for a whole family's worth of washing each week, we have 2 girls of 1 and 3. DH diverts from the question of him doing his fair share by complaining that I make my life difficult by washing bed-linen and towels too much. My current regime is towels and bathmat washed once a week, and bed-linen just once a month . (Luckily little exciting happens in the marital bed). What do you think? Minging? Unnecessary? I need to know what is normal. What do you do?